Adjustable container support means for a railway flat car



United States Patent Edwin A. Zambruski St. Louis County, Missouri730,867

May 21, 1968 Dec. 1, 1970 ACF Industries, Incorporated New York, NewYork a corporation of New Jersey Inventor Appl. No, Filed PatentedAssignee ADJUSTABLE CONTAINER SUPPORT MEANS FOR A RAILWAY FLAT CAR 7Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

Int. Cl. B65j 1/22, 860p 7/08 Field 01' Search 105/366,

368(T), 369(A);280/179, 179.1; 248/1 19, 361; 2915/35.]; 104/258;l88/43,45

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,414,250 4/1922 Bellony188/43 1,859,596 5/1932 Morgan 188/43 2,582,970 1/1952 Dockery et a1.104/258 3,114,335 12/1963 Schroeder et al ..105/369(B)UX 3,187,6866/1965 DePodesta ....105/368(T)UX 3,391,654 7/1968 Grob et a1 105/3663,417,712 12/1968 Pulcrano et a1 105/366 Primary Examiner- Drayton E.Hoffman AuorneysSamuel J. Snyder and Eugene N. Riddle ABSTRACT: Supportsare provided for holding the corners of containers transported onrailway flatcars. Each support rests on the deck of the car and has pinson the bottom adapted to be anchored in a pair of perforated strips at arequired position. The support includes a clamping device which extendsthrough a slot in the deck between the perforated strips. The clampingdevice is movable by a handle toward the underside of the deck to lockthe support to the deck. When not in use the supports are stowable belowthe deck.

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ADJUSTABLE CONTAINER surroar MEANS FOR A,

RAILWAY FLAT can BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Container supports forrailway flat cars are preferably adjustable and stowable, as setforth-in U.S; Pat. No. 3,39l.654,

, over the subject matter o f which this application presentsimprovements. The improvements consistprincipally in providing means forpositively locking the support to the deck of the car, and means forobtaining a finer adjustment of the positioning of the support.

SUMMARY or rue INVENTION A pair of perforated strips extends along eachside of the deck of a flat car. A support for the corner of a containeris movable along the perforated strips. The support includes a pedestalresting on the perforated strips and having a seat for the corner of acontainenThe pedestal has a ramp in the form of an inclined slot beneaththe seat intersected by a vertical medial slot. A clamping deviceincludes a first plate in the vertical slot, extending throughja slot inthe deck, a transverse plate at the top of the first plate and locatedin the inclined slot, and transverse members at the bottom of the firstplate,

below the deck. A leverhaving a handle connects the clamping device tothe pedestal to raise the clamping device until its transverse membersengage the underside of the deck. The bottom of the pedestal has dowelpins which enter the perforated strips to prevent movement'ofthe'support.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TI-IEDRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, the illustrated invention relatesto the mounting of containers, which may be of various sizes, on

' the deck 10 ofa railway car. At each side of the deck a pair ofregularly perforated strips l2, 13 are affixed, and between them thedeck has a slot 14. The deck also has openings l6, 18 for stowingcontainer supports 20.

Each support includes a pedestal 22, a clamping device 24, and a levermechanism or bell crank 26 including a handle 28. The pedestal has ahorizontal seat3.0 and adjoining walls 32 and 34 forming a trihedralcorner for seating one corner of a container. The lower portion of thepedestal has an inclined slot having portions 35, 36- The lower part ofthe pedestal is bifurcated to form a wide vertical slot 38 of generallytriangular shapel-Ioles 39 and 40 are provided for a pivot pin '42. Rearwall 34 has a groove 43 for receiving handle 28, and extends beyond therest of the pedestal to provide a pair of flanges 44, 45, for holdingsupport when it is stowed in openings 16 or 18. In the bottom of thepedestal there are a plurality of holes 46, 47 for receiving dowels 48,49.

Clamping device 24 includes a generally triangular plate 50, on thesloping side 52 of which is welded a wide flat plate 54. At its ends,plate 50 hastransverse members or feet 56, 58, and in its upper cornerit has a slot 60 for pivot pin 62. Plate 54 rides in'the inclined slotor ramp 35, 36 of the pedestal, and is pivoted thereto by the bell crank26 at the lower end of hantile 28. It can be seen that raising handle 28pulls clamping device 24'rearwardly and plate 54, therefore, rides upramp 35, 36 and raises clamping device 24 until transverse members 56,58 are adjacent deck 10. The support is then locked to the deck. Dowelpins 48 and 49 inperforations 64, 65 of perforated strips I2, 13 preventsupport 20 from shifting lon itudlnally or laterally. Latchmgmeans 66,68-lock handle in its clamping position, and when support 20 is stowed.

Dowel holes 46, 47 are spaced a shorter distance than perforations 64,65 in order to provide a vernier relation between them. For example, ifperforations 64, 65 are spaced 2 inches apart, holes 46 and 47 may bespaced 1 and one-half inches. By selecting the perforations andinserting dowel pins 48, 49 in the optimum ones ofthe three holes 46,47, support 20 can be placed within one-half inch of a desired position.

When it is desired to stow away supports 20, in order to haul cargoother than containers, support 20 is moved along slot I4 to opening 16or 18 and turned downwardly into the opening. Flanges 44, 45 then engagethe deck and substantially cover opening 16 or 18, in practically thesame manner as do the flanges of the container supports inaforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,654.

The foregoing description and the drawing illustrate the principles ofthe invention in a simple manner. It will be apparent to those skilledin the art that many variations or embellishments thereofcan be made.

lclaim:

I. A corner support for a container adapted to be mounted on the deck ofa railroad flat car, comprising a pedestal and a clamping deviceconnected to said pedestal and movable relative thereto, saidpedestalhaving a seat for receiving a corner ofthe container and a basebeneath the seat for supporting the pedestal on the deck, said basehaving an upwardly inclined slot therein, said clamping device includinga member having a first portion in said slot and slidable therealong anda second portion extending from said first portion downwardly throughsaid base and through a slot in the deck, said second portion having alaterally offset portion below the deck, said clamping device includingmanually operable means for moving said member upwardly along theinclined slot of said base for elevating'said laterally offset portionsubstantially to the underside of the deck and retaining said member inits uppermost position for holding the support on the deck.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said slot is T- shaped andsaid second portion of said member is a vertical triangular plate, andsaid first portion in said inclined slot is an inclined plate integralwith said triangular plate.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said clamping device includesa bell crank pivotally connecting said member to the pedestal.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, including means for locking said bellcrank when said member is in its uppermost position.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base of said pedestal hasa T-shaped slot extending over the length of the pedestal, said T-shapedslot including said inclined slot and a slot extending downwardly fromthe inclined slot throughout the length thereof, said first and secondportions of said member forming a T-shaped portion located in saidT-shaped slot.

6. Apparatus according to claim I, wherein the deck has a linear seriesof perforations longitudinally thereof and a dowel projecting downwardlyfrom the bottom of the pedestal for entry into one of the perforations.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said dowel is adjustable todifferent longitudinal positions of the pedestal having a vernierrelation to the series of perforations.

